Stephanie Pearce: Be an active voter, participate in governance class

How active do you think you should be in the political arena? Most people think that voting every couple of years and writing a letter to their elected officials about things that concern them from time to time is enough, but is it?

When an industry or organization wants to influence a decision that is being made, they hire lobbyists to do just that for them. A lobbyist is an activist who seeks to persuade members of the government to enact legislation that would benefit their group. A lobbyist isn't always paid; some are volunteers. There are lobbyists at the state and federal level that represent just about every interest group in America from labor unions to senior citizen organizations. We might be most familiar with lobbyists for oil and gas and environmental groups.

What about the average Joe? Does he fit into one of these groups? Who represents him when all these other groups have people designated for their fight taking the ears of those who are representing us? So many times we feel like we aren't being heard on the issues that are important to us, so how do we get heard?

It is our job as citizens to be proactive in the political arena on a regular basis. We need to really research the issues that are affecting us. We need to be well versed when approaching our elected officials and representatives. I have said over and over that when approaching our government, we need to look and act professional. So what does that mean?

The Center for Self Governance will be conducting a class from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday and Monday at the CNCC Bell Tower Building to explain just that. Their web site says "The Center for Self Governance is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization dedicated to training citizens in applied civics, founded on the belief in the capacity of mankind for self-governance." They go on to say that "Self Governance is exercising your individual liberty, personal responsibility, and civic authority to control instituted government."

They also state "As citizens, we often lack the political knowledge, skills, and ability to articulate our desire to make the policy changes necessary to keep our government in its proper role. Modern civics training teaches conventional political theories. The Center for Self Governance teaches unconventional, tried and tested techniques in applied civics proven to Keep the Republic. CSG training puts you, the citizen, in the drivers seat of self governance. You choose the issues, candidates, and agendas to address, just as our government of, by, and for the people was designed." (go to the website: centerforselfgovernance.com for more information and/or to register for the class)

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The class is not just for adults. We need to encourage our young people to be prepared in the area of politics as well. There is a discount for children and a bigger discount if they attend with a parent. I would encourage everyone, no matter your age or party affiliation, to sign up for the class. It will give you a wealth of knowledge.

With all of the issues we are facing right now, we need to be proactive and not reactive. This class should give us the knowledge we need to get us in the going in the right direction.